Mobile Banking Penetration High in Latin America

Penetration in Brazil increased the most

Mobile banking is up across Latin America, according to 2015 data. In the region as a whole, an outright majority of digital banking users ages 20 and older use mobile banking.

Easy Solutions reported that mobile banking, which reaches 52% of the region this year, was up 8 percentage points in penetration since 2013.

And penetration increased during that period in every subregion studied. The most dramatic change was in Brazil, where penetration rose 14 percentage points to 45%—still the lowest of any area broken out. The South Cone, which includes Argentina and Chile, had the second-lowest mobile banking penetration, at 49%.

Everywhere else enjoyed more than 50% mobile banking penetration, with the highest usage in Central America and the Caribbean, followed by Mexico.

The most common think holding digital banking users back from making mobile transactions was fear of fraud: 47% of those who did no mobile banking said it did not seem safe. About one in five (21%) said they did not trust that the transaction would be performed correctly if they carried it out on a mobile device—though it was not clear whether they worried that the error would be theirs or their bank’s.

In addition, 9% said it cost more to use mobile banking, and 7% said their bank did not offer the service.